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On December 22, 2014, Oracle (ORCL) announced the acquisition of Datalogix, a provider of digital marketing data as a service (or DaaS). Datalogix connects offline consumer spending data with digital marketing efforts with the goal of tracking advertising, its influence on consumers, and the resultant returns.

Datalogix has more than 650 customers and 1,500 data partners that track $2 trillion in consumer spending. Advertisers and digital media publishers such as Lenovo, Google (GOOG), (GOOGL), Facebook (FB), Twitter (TWTR), Ahold, Kraft (KRFT), and Ford use Datalogix to enhance their media presence. The company provides purchase-based targeting that leads to more revenue generation.

Lack of mega deals weighs on UK M&A figures M&A activity targeting the United Kingdom stood at £37.5bn in the first half of 2014, the lowest half-year value since 2010 (£37bn) and a 12.5% drop from the first six months of last year.

M&A activity targeting the United Kingdom stood at £37.5bn in the first half of 2014, the lowest half-year value since 2010 (£37bn) and a 12.5% drop from the first six months of last year.

A lack of large transactions in the country pulled the UK M&A value down this semester, according to MergerMarket, with only one mega-deal (valued above US$5bn) announced in the region so far this year – the £8.6bn acquisition of the Oncology division of GlaxoSmithKline by its German peer Novartis.

Market wisdom has it that most takeovers destroy value in the long-run. But the world’s largest companies seem to have had little time for history lessons in 2014. In all, there were 96 deals worth more than $5bn completed over the past 12 months. Together, their value was around $1.2tn, or 37 per cent of the overall volume of corporate transactions.

In what soon became the best year for dealmaking since the financial crisis — measured on a total volume of $3.34tn — the US led the way, spurred by favourable economic conditions and central bank monetary policy. But Europe and Asia finished the year strongly as well.

In the fall of 2001, Hewlett-Packard announced a momentous $25 billion merger with Compaq, as commented by The New York Times.

“This is a decisive move that accelerates our strategy and positions us to win by offering even greater value to our customers and partners,” declared Carly Fiorina, HP’s chairwoman and chief executive at the time, describing how the deal would “create substantial share owner value.”

Thirteen years later, just this fall, Meg Whitman, HP’s current chairwoman and

Mergers and Acquisitions Conference 2015 New York City

chief executive, undid that deal, splitting the company in two. “It will provide each new company with the independence, focus, financial resources and flexibility they need to adapt quickly to market and customer dynamics.”

Eerily mirroring Ms. Fiorina’s words, she said the divorced companies “will be in an even better position to compete in the market, support our customers and partners, and deliver maximum value to our shareholders.”

According to CNBC, Goldman Sachs already appears to be having second thoughts on its tepid forecast for 2015.

The firm’s clients believe Goldman is overestimating how much interest rates will rise in the years ahead, strategist David Kostin said in his weekly report that summarized recent meetings with market pros.

Kostin has projected the Federal Reserve‘s target funds rate to hit 3.9 percent by the end of 2018. Fund managers, though, believe slow global growth and low inflation will keep the U.S. central bank in only modest hiking mode, translating to just a 2 percent funds rate in that span.

Hondurans choose a new president and Congress today as the world’s highest rate of violent crime crimps economic growth in the country four years after a military coup ousted former President Manuel Zelaya.

Polls show the race in a statistical tie between the ruling National Party’s Juan Orlando Hernandez, 45, and Zelaya’s wife, Xiomara Castro, who heads the newly formed Libre party. Both candidates have vowed to improve security after a surge in murders fueled by drug gangs linked to Mexican cartels. Polls opened at 7 a.m. local time and will close at 5 p.m.

Castro, 54, is seeking to break a century-long grip on the presidential palace by the country’s two traditional parties. She has tapped into frustration from the coup, during which she led protests to have her husband returned from exile. Hernandez led the national assembly when Zelaya was ousted for backing a referendum to change the constitution.

In the eight-candidate race, no party is expected to win a majority in the legislature.

“It’s going to be difficult for whoever wins to govern,” said Geoff Thale, director of the Washington Office on Latin America.

Bordered by Nicaragua, El Salvador and Guatemala, Honduras has a murder rate of more than 80 per 100,000 inhabitants, the highest in the world, according to the United Nations. The U.S. State Department estimated that last year about 90 percent of all cocaine smuggling flights departing South America for the U.S. first land in Honduras, where illegal airstrips abound in poorly patrolled parts of the country.

International Observers

The government plans to deploy 14,000 soldiers and police to safeguard the process, while almost 750 international observers will monitor the vote. Current President Porfirio Lobo is barred from seeking re-election and whoever gets the most votes wins. There is no second round.

U.S. stocks rose to records, with benchmark gauges capping a sixth week of gains, as investors assessed data on factory output amid growing speculation the Federal Reserve will maintain the pace of its monthly stimulus.

The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index rose 0.4 percent to 1,798.18 at 4 p.m. in New York. The gauge gained 1.6 percent in the past five days, capping its longest streak of weekly gains since February. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 85.48 points, or 0.5 percent, to 15,961.70, a third straight record. About 6.1 billion shares changed hands on U.S. exchanges today, in line with the three-month average.

Janet Yellen’s remarks yesterday told investors that “interest rates are going to remain low for a while, which is a positive environment for equities,” John Fox, director of research at Fenimore Asset Management in Cobleskill, New York, said by phone. Fenimore oversees about $1.8 billion. “The combination of earnings growth and expanded PE due to investors feeling better about things just continues to move the market higher.”

Data Watch

The S&P 500 (SPX) and the Dow rallied as Yellen, nominated to succeed Ben S. Bernanke as chairman of the Federal Reserve, said yesterday the central bank should take care not to withdraw stimulus too early from an economy that is operating well below potential.

Data today showed manufacturing in the New York region unexpectedly contracted in November. A separate report showed total industrial production in the U.S. fell 0.1 percent in October as output at mines and utilities declined. Factory output rose more than forecast. Wholesale inventories widened by 0.4 percent in September, the Census Bureau said.